criminology essay

Final Paper: You are required to write a 5-7 page paper on a specific and current issue of your choosing. There will be four main sections in this paper: overview, analysis, application, and reflection. Questions/issues to address in your write-up: • What media choices have you chosen? Briefly summarize them • How do your media choices portray crime and related issues? • Are the representation of crime in your media choices accurate? • What historical and cultural influence may have contributed to these representations? • Have you found any patterns of representation? Why do you think that is? • Apply concepts/terms/theories from no less than three chapters in the textbook to your chosen media choices. • Be sure to review the instructor videos addressing the final paper for additional instructions. Further Details for the final paper: • Paper must be your own original work. You must use in-text citations when drawing from an outside source, either quoting directly or paraphrasing. • You must be culturally sensitive in your paper. You are to investigate your topic of choice and present it in your paper without prejudgments. • Must be typed and doubled-spaced, with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins. • Page requirements are only a recommendation. Your assignment will be graded on how well you cover the requirements of the paper and connect it to course material. • Poor grammar and excessive spelling errors will result in loss of points, but the occasional typo will not count against you. • Any assignment handed in once assignments have been collected will be considered late and will suffer a loss of points based on the course late policy. • The final paper should have a minimum of 3 references to reputable and academic sources of information. Your textbook may not count as one of these 3 references, but you should cite it in the text where necessary and include it in the bibliography. • Although online references are allowed, make sure they are reputable, verifiable sources. Joe Schmoe’s blog will not count as an acceptable source. Internet based Encyclopedias such as “Wikipedia” may not be used as a referenced resource and will result in a loss of points. • You must include at least 2 printed references (references that are posted online as well as in print will count as printed references. For example, the New York Times online edition. All academic journal articles count as printed references). General Suggestions: • Make sure that you reflect on what we have been learning in this class. A paper that does not tie in concepts we are learning in this course will not receive a good grade. • Make sure that you’re writing is clear and academic. • Do not include broad overgeneralizations in your write-up. Objective: In this paper you will analyze a series of TV shows and movies of your choice. As addressed in this course, and likely in your previous sociology courses, the media has a profound impact on our socialization. While media representation of crime can often go unrecognized on a conscious level, they are none the less important in shaping not just individuals but our society as a whole. With this in mind, you will be applying the terms, concepts, and theories you have learned in our class to a series of TV shows and movies of your choice. You will have a great deal of leeway in this assignment, with the ability to focus on mainstream TV shows and movies of your choice. You will also decide which three or more chapters from the textbook to focus on. Choosing relevant TV shows and movies that can be analyzed by applying what you have learned in this course will be essential.